This application claims benefit of Japanese application number 2001-044094 filed in Japan on Feb. 20, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical treatment system wherein the operation etc. of medical equipment is controlled by manipulation of a switch.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of medical treatment technology in recent years, a wide range of medical equipment of various types has come into use and the range of functionality of this equipment continues to be expanded. Such medical equipment of various types includes electric scalpel devices, ultrasound operating devices, and laser scalpels etc. of many types. Such medical equipment may be employed on its own or may be employed in the form of a compound medical treatment system. In the case of such medical equipment, the operator treats the lesion etc of the diseased part while holding the scalpel unit in his hand. Turning the output of such medical equipment on or off is therefore frequently performed using a foot switch operated by the foot. In particular, in the case of operations performed under endoscopy, since the operator also manipulates the endoscope using his/her hand, output control is often performed using a foot switch.
Examples of such medical treatment systems are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-318916 or Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-318935.
The medical treatment system disclosed in the above Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 11-318916 is arranged to be capable of controlling the operation of a plurality of items of medical equipment by switching over a foot switch or hand switch and the like.
This medical treatment system comprises switches that govern the operation of the items of medical equipment provided as the switches such as the aforesaid foot switch or hand switch, a selection switch that selects an operating mode of the items of medical equipment, and display means including operation display means that displays the operating mode of the items of medical equipment and selection operation mode display means that selectively displays the operating mode selected by the aforesaid selection switch.
The operator treats the diseased part of the patient in the operating mode of a desired device in the above medical treatment system. In this medical treatment system, the operating mode of the device desired by the operator is selected by operating the selection switch. In this process, the selection condition of the operating mode of the aforesaid medical treatment system that has been selected is selectively displayed by the selection operation mode display means. In this way, the operator can easily ascertain the selected operation mode.
Thus, in this condition, the operator depresses the operating switch and control operation can be achieved of the device in the aforesaid medical treatment system desired by the operator in the selected operating mode, and in this way treatment of the diseased part of the patient can be effected in the operating mode desired by the operator.
In contrast, in the medical treatment system described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-318935, there are provided a plurality of switches such as hand switches whereby control switchover is achieved of the operating modes of a plurality of items of medical treatment equipment that perform at least one of examination, diagnosis and treatment.
In the above medical treatment systems, it is arranged for operation of the medical treatment equipment to be controlled by selectively switching over the operating mode of the medical treatment equipment by operating a plurality of switches such as the aforesaid hand switch. This medical treatment system comprises switch-operation recognition means for recognizing the switchover operation condition of the switches provided as the aforementioned foot switch or hand switch etc. and display means that displays the results of this switch-operation recognition means.
The operator carries out treatment of the diseased part of the patient in the desired operating mode of the device in the aforesaid medical treatment system. While he/she is doing this, it is arranged for the operator to be able to recognize in a simple manner the current switch operating condition by viewing the display means with the natural line of sight.
However, with the medical treatment system disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-318916, the preparation required for achieving output by the intended items of medical equipment was complicated in that the desired operating mode of the medical equipment could not be set without depressing one by one the selection switches that select an operating mode of the items of medical treatment equipment.
In the medical treatment system disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-318935, switch-operation recognition means (hereinbelow referred to as a foot position sensor) is provided in order to solve the above problem. In the aforementioned medical treatment system, ease of the operation of selecting the operating switch is improved by displaying the result detected by the aforementioned foot position sensor on the display means. However, in the aforementioned medical treatment system, since the respective operating switch is provided in one-to-one correspondence with the aforementioned foot position sensor, it is necessary to provide operating switches equal to the number of selections of operating modes. In the aforementioned medical treatment system, there was therefore the problem that the foot switch employed became of large size.
It should be noted that for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,047 medical treatment equipment has been proposed in which suction of living tissue and arrest of hemorrhage are performed by a single item of equipment.
Also, in other proposed medical treatment systems, items of medical equipment are collectively controlled by means of respective ID codes, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,560.
An object of the present invention is to provide a medical treatment system in which operation of a plurality of items of medical treatment equipment can be achieved in a straightforward fashion and reliably and wherein devices are reduced in size.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a medical treatment system wherein the selection, determination and alteration of operating mode of the various items of medical treatment equipment can be achieved efficiently and without impairing safety and in which efficiency of a medical operation can be improved.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a medical treatment system in which the condition of the various items of medical equipment can be viewed without changing the operator""s gaze, whilst looking at the endoscope image.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a medical treatment system in which selection, determination and alteration of operating mode can be achieved without turning the line of sight from the therapeutic instrument and the efficiency of the medical operation can be improved.
A medical treatment system according to the present invention having medical treatment equipment and a control device that controls the operation of this medical treatment equipment comprises: an operation control section that controls operation by a single function wherein a therapeutic instrument connected to said medical treatment equipment is selected; a selection switchover section provided in said control device and that selects a single function in a therapeutic instrument by controlling said operation control section; a selection input section that selectively inputs a single function in a therapeutic instrument by operating said selection switchover section by selection of a prescribed input section from among input sections arranged corresponding to the number of functions possessed by said therapeutic instrument; and an operating switch that outputs operation instructions in respect of a single function in the therapeutic instrument selected by said selective input section to said selection switchover section.
Also, a medical treatment system according to the present invention having medical treatment equipment and a control device that controls the operation of this medical treatment equipment comprises: an operation control section that controls operation by a single function wherein a therapeutic instrument connected to said medical treatment equipment is selected; a selection switchover section provided in said control device and that selects a single function in a therapeutic instrument by controlling said operation control section; a selection input section that selectively inputs a single function in a therapeutic instrument by operating said selection switchover section by selection of a prescribed input section from among input sections arranged corresponding to the number of functions possessed by said therapeutic instrument; a switchover section that, when there are a plurality of items of said medical treatment equipment, selects a corresponding item of medical treatment equipment from among said plurality of items of medical treatment equipment in accordance with a single function in the therapeutic instrument selected by said selection switchover section; and an operating switch that outputs operation instructions in respect of a single function in the therapeutic instrument selected by said selective input section to said selection switchover section.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be fully clarified by the following description.